Interns Insight: A Boston native discovers North Coast a great place for learning

Being a College of Wooster student, I heard rumblings about Cleveland throughout my first year at school. I learned about lake effect. My shock about how much snow Cleveland gets (More than Wooster? Is that possible?) was amusing to locals.

I heard about Cleveland’s allegedly fantastic Little Italy, of which I was skeptical because in Boston we are pretty proud of our North End, home of all the best Italian restaurants. Of course, everyone spoke highly of the museums and the culture the city had to offer. Being a snobby Bostoner, there was skepticism.

So, when I found out I would be working and living in Cleveland, I hoped those positive ramblings from Drew Carey were true.

Well, after 12 weeks, Cleveland has wooed me.

Right off the bat, one of the my favorite places was Legacy Village. I have spent time and a little too much money in the Village. When I first arrived, my sorority sister Erin Kezele took me there so we could get our nails done.

I have shopped for work outfits, bought frozen yogurt and walked around. It’s a really wonderful place.

I had a short but real love affair with Chagrin Falls. Sometimes, after work, I would drive 45 minutes just to walk around or read by the falls. I went on a double date at Yours Truly, walked around the adorable Fireside Book Shop and of course bought ice cream in the famous Popcorn Shop.

If there is one place I will never forget it’s Cleveland Heights, the city that has been my beat since June.

The curfew issues started in my first week of reporting on Cleveland Heights, so I have had a front row seat.

While my position on the curfew has evolved, my biggest take away is the value of community government and community reporting.

Before I took this internship, I was skeptical. My career path was strictly writing national and international politics. I was not really sure what working at a local newspaper would teach me. It has taught me a great deal.

What happens in a resident’s community affects them directly. That is why it is so important to have a proactive city council like the one Cleveland Heights residents have elected.

Even if you disagree with the curfew, you cannot contest how passionate and invested council has been. They could have slapped a curfew ban on Coventry and just let it be. But instead, council members and Mayor Ed Kelley showed up at every open forum and listened.

They worked with the Youth of Coventry to improve their own understanding of social networking. They attentively listened to the “personal communication from citizen’s” part of council meetings even when it got to the point where everyone was saying the same thing.

Watching proactive residents and a responsive council has taught me to not turn my nose up at community politics and journalism.

Community journalism is important because it tells residents about where they live. Hundreds of different media outlets and blogs are reporting on things like the debt ceiling and the Casey Anthony trial. Not so many report on the paving of Taylor Road or a local play.

The staff at Sun Newspapers are a very dedicated group of individuals. To them, it is about not only reporting what is going on the community, but about doing it with care and well-written pieces.

Our reporting is not about the quantity of news we can produce, but instead it’s about quality insight into what is going on locally.

Quality above quantity is another thing I’ve taken away and that is something that will certainly aid my journalism career.

I am walking away from this 12-week internship with so much more than I ever could have asked for. I have a new found appreciation of community government and community journalism and have established a bigger portfolio then probably any aspiring reporter my age.

I am full of words of wisdom from to the closest things I had to family this summer, my fellow east group reporters Faith, Joan, Ed and our news editor Robert. And of course, I have the story of how I met and interviewed Betty White.

All and all this summer has been one of the best of my life, and a city I once scoffed at truly made it possible.

Gina Christo is a sophomore at the College of Wooster. She is a features editor of The Wooster Voice, the school's student newspaper.

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